Should We Be Honest In Our Comments or Just Nice?

Honest comments can help improve the content on a site which will benefit everyone

I saw a post today that was the epitome of click bait. As if that wasn’t bad enough it was copied clickbait. It indicated the article would provide you with a long list of places that would pay you at least $1000 an article. In fact, it only listed five of the top tier magazines, several of which don’t even take unsolicited material with the rest only publishing well known, professional writers. I’m not certain, but I also doubt any of them would pay $1000 an article even if you were well known.

When I run into an article that I see a problem with, I usually just make a point of clicking off quickly so as little as possible of my membership fee will go for that piece. Once in a while however, I read it half attentively as the other half of my brain is considering whether I should leave a constructively critical comment.

I admit that there have been a number of articles I have read that I felt strongly enough about something that was wrong that I wanted to leave a comment for the writer. Yet in almost every case I backed down.

I did leave a comment on the article I read today, basically just saying that the writer might want to consider revising the title since it was a bit misleading. In reality, it was far more than a bit misleading, it was click bait, but I couldn’t actually say it was click bait, or even use the term misleading without trying to soften it somewhat by preceding it with a bit.

There were two main reasons for this. First, I didn’t want to discourage the writer. This was actually a silly reason because I should have wanted to discourage them, at least from writing click bait with information almost no one could benefit from.

Second, I didn’t want anyone to think I just wasn’t being nice. So even in this rare case when I actually screwed up my courage to comment as I believed something needed to be said, I still tried to be as nice as possible instead of 100 percent honest.

I’ve been working with students and other professionals in different areas for decades and am well versed in how to give constructive criticism in a positive manner. And so I found it difficult to understand why I am so reluctant to say anything not glowingly positive, even when I feel some sort of constructive comment is clearly warranted.

I am not mean spirited and am very careful in what I say to and about others, and therefore, know that I wouldn’t just insult or attack another writer. Yet still, I am hesitant to provide constructive criticism on Medium, and on the few occasions I have done so, I find myself questioning whether I should have.

There seems to be a trend on Medium for those who comment on articles to respond only with positive remarks. I’ve noticed this is sometimes even the case when the article is clickbait, subpar or filled with mistakes. Once in a while someone may add a comment that isn’t positive, but usually these are extremely negative in terms of criticising the writer themselves, or their opinion or position on something, rather than being constructive. There doesn’t seem to be a practice of making comments that might serve to let the writer know that there is something they could do to strengthen their work.

I’ve seen this trend on several sites I’ve written for. But on the others, there was some kind of quality control mechanism that screened articles before they were published and put them through a plagiarism checker. So there was a minimum standard that had to be met before articles were published.

On Medium, however, there isn’t any such mechanism. While there are policies that writers are expected to follow, unless a writer reports another writer, those who disregard these policies aren’t likely to be held accountable.

It’s rare to hear of someone being banned from Medium, despite there being writers who go against the policies. Publication editors provide some degree of control in terms of making sure that articles that don’t follow the rules aren’t published, but that doesn’t stop the writer from publishing it on their wall or in their own publication.

I think part of not wanting to leave constructive criticism or less than positive comments on people’s articles is a natural phenomenon because of the discomfort it causes us. Most of us don’t enjoy saying things to other writers about their work that might be construed as suggesting they aren’t skillful or talented, even when warranted. We are aware of how personal our writing is and know what it feels like to have someone question something about it.

On platforms where the culture is such that negative comments aren’t routinely made, this makes us aware that doing so will stand out. There is also the concern that doing so will result in a negative opinion being formed about us should we choose to leave a less than positive comment. So instead, we either stop reading an article when it becomes clear that there is something we find to be a problem, or just ignore obvious weaknesses that we might have ideas about fixing.

The lack of oversight from Medium overall, and the atmosphere of negative comments being somewhat discouraged, if not directly then as a function of common practice, likely result in some writers failing to worry so much about quality of their writing or the ethics of publishing (e.g. in the case of plagiarism). This is why in many reputable publications and online writing sites there is a formal process of quality control as well as a formal or informal peer review system in place which occurs from the feedback received. Such a process instructs writers as to what is deemed acceptable or not acceptable as well as limits what’s published to articles that are original and well written. This kind of system benefits everyone involved with the site or publication

The Benefits of Being Honest in Our Feedback to Other Writers

While we should be careful about how we provide feedback that isn’t entirely positive to other writers, being honest when leaving comments can benefit us and the overall site in a number of important ways.

Quality Control

If the practice of leaving honest comments becomes the culture, it will serve as a means of quality control. While many of the Medium publications have editors who make sure an article is error free and of a certain quality before accepting or publishing it, some are less thorough than others. However, people can choose to start their own publications and become less stringent in what they accept or in the case of those publishing only that writer’s work, they can publish work that perhaps was rejected by other publications.

A culture where we all provide a certain standard for what is published on the site will continuously improve the quality of what is published.

Writer Improvement

Constructive criticism will help us improve and grow as writers. If we publish our work day after day and never receive any feedback about what we can do differently or better, we will be limited in the amount we are able to improve. We may be able to improve our skills from reading or writing outside of the site, but the more feedback we get from different points of view, the better our writing will become.

There is a wealth of knowledge available through the wide range of writers on Medium. If we create a culture where constructive comments are the norm, this will enable us to help each other gain a bigger readership.

Reduce Redundancy

Anyone who regularly reads the articles on Medium will have noticed that there are articles that cover the same information. In some cases, there are numerous versions of almost the exact same article written by different people, or on occasion, written by the same person at different times. Honesty in calling this fact to attention would hopefully result in a decrease of this practice.

Clarity

Another benefit of honest comments is that it helps us know how our writing is coming across. As Sylvia Clare MSc. Psychol wrote:

The painful comment has made me recognize that what I had in my head might not be how it is read on the page.

When we are writing, we have a way of understanding what we are saying. But others may not understand it in the same way. We write for certain reasons, to present our ideas, process experiences that other may have in common with us, be persuasive or give an opinion. If what we intend to say is not what the reader takes away then we failed to fulfill our intention.

This has always been one of the most valuable functions of belonging to a writing group. Many times the feedback I receive from those in the group suggests that either what they thought I was saying was not at all what I intended. In some cases it was actually the opposite. Other times my writing was unclear or too vague and indirect for them to understand.

We can’t get out of our own heads to see how our writing comes across. Feedback from readers is the best way to gain a sense of this. And when those readers are also writers, there is an added level of knowledge that helps inform their feedback.

Take Away

Being a nice person is certainly a good thing and encouraging other writers by being supportive is a noble endeavor. But being nice at the expense of being honest is doing a disservice to our fellow writers.

While the predominant culture on Medium is to provide primarily positive comments in response to articles, we would all benefit if we begin to shift this culture to include constructive feedback. This would provide suggestions to help each of us improve our work as well as serve as a means of quality control, possibly decreasing redundant articles and those which go against Medium’s policies. Ultimately, increasing the quality of the articles on the site would benefit everyone who publishes on the platform as well as Medium itself by strengthening its reputation as a site that publishes high quality work.

Natalie Frank has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and often writes about how to create a more satisfying and successful writing life. She is an editor for The Partnered Pen & One Table, One World and is Editor in Chief for Promposity & Mental Gecko, both of which she created. She is also the Managing Editor for Novellas and Serials at LVP Publications. Her collection of poetry, Disguised I Breathe, In Love I Hold, can be found on Amazon under her pen name, Taye Carrol.

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